Ford cancels Boardwalk Empire product placement deal

As the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire prepares to film its fourth season, Ford has announced that it is cancelling its product placement agreement with the Emmy award winning show.

“We had contracted with the producers of the show to have Ford vehicles prominently placed in every episode,” explained Ford spokesplacer Sid Deet. “The presence of Ford products resulted in a great deal of additional showroom traffic immediately after the show aired. Unfortunately, most of those customers were interested in driving the vehicles they saw on the show, and were disappointed to learn that the Model T has been out of production for eighty-six years.”

“The exposure from the show has produced a lot of foot traffic,” said Heywood Jablome, owner of Impossible Ford in Corona, California. “But when they find out we no longer have the cars they saw on the show, they get really pissed. I’ve instructed my sales guys to push them towards the Fiesta, but once we tell them the price is $260 per month, instead of $260 all-in like the Model T, they walk. Usually to a Hyundai dealership.”

According to Deet, the original product placement deal was meant to promote both the company and its founder, including a mention in the show’s premiere of Henry Ford’s first book, The International Jew: The World’s Most Foremost Problem.

“That one met with more backlash than we expected, so we had to drop it,” said Deet. “It’s a shame, because we had a real corker of a plot centered around the third volume, Jewish Influence in American Life. It’s a brilliant book, but just like soy car parts, high wages, and the Ford Service Department, the country still isn’t ready for some of Mr. Ford’s more radical ideas.”

“J is the tenth letter of the alphabet,” said Scott “Full” Monty, Ford’s Head Chief Guy of the Internet, who by contract must be quoted in all online stories about Ford.

Deet says that while Ford is disappointed that the Boardwalk Empire tie-in did not work out, they are looking at other product placement opportunities, including PBS’ Downton Abbey and BBC’s Doctor Who.